Seeing Students with the Heart

My vision is such that I must wear corrective lens to see clearly. With my natural eyes, I can see but everything is blurred. I must wear corrective lens to see clearly. By the same token, with their natural eyes, educators can see the children they teach but they are out of focus—a blur.

To see the child clearly, an educator needs to put on God’s corrective lens. God’s lens, however, are not designed for the eyes that are in the head but for the eyes of the heart.

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened… (Ephesians 1:17 NIV)

When children are seen through the eyes of the heart they come into clear focus

As such, they are no longer assessed by:

• The income levels of their households
• The marital status of their parents
• The color of their skins
• The zip codes where they reside
• Their performance levels on tests

Such perceptions can easily blur how educators relate to the children in their care. With God’s lens, on the other hand, children are viewed as:

• Having been created in God’s image
• Fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps 139:14)
• Precious in His sight (Isa. 43:4)
• Having angels assigned to them by God who always look into His face (Matthew 18:10)
• Being invited by Christ into His presence so that He might bless them (Mark 10:14)
• Having infinite worth and value

Drivers with poor vision have a restriction on their driver’s license requiring the use of corrective lens to drive. They can see the road, other cars, and pedestrians, but not clearly. For these drivers, driving without corrective lens is a hazard to anyone in their path putting them at risk.  By the same token, teaching children without God’s corrective lens puts them at risk. Their teachers can see them but not clearly and accurately enough to relate to them and educate them appropriately. Teaching in the natural can be a hazard to children’s educational health and wellbeing. Appropriating God’s lens, however, cannot be done in the natural; it is a matter of the supernatural. Only the Lord can open the eyes of the heart. It is what transforms an educator from being two-dimensional to a three-dimensional Kingdom-class educator.

Steps to vision correction:

• Become a student of God’s word because it gives light to the eyes (Ps. 119:18; Ps. 13:3).
• Ask God to open your eyes that you might see beyond the natural just as He did for Elisha’s servant (2 Kings 6:17)
• Do not look at your students from a worldly point of view. See them from God’s point of view. (2 Corinthians 5:16)
• Remember to remove any obstructions from your eyes so that you can see your students clearly and help them to see. (Matthew 7:3)
• Realize that you are the light of your classroom. Let your light shine in such a way that your students will see your good works. (Matthew 5:16)

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